Favourite 40 Wildlife Images of 2014 Part 1

08th December 2014

2014 has been a great year Photographically speaking for me! I have led 7 scheduled photographic safaris, hosted 10 private photographic safaris and held 3 photographic workshops working with a total of 87 guests from all over the Globe, I have been fortunate enough to lead Safaris in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.

I don't know exactly how many images I have taken in 2014 but it is a good number ! and unlike back in 2005 when I was still shooting on Slide film and I had to limit my shooting to one roll of film per week we now no longer have those restrictions and if the game viewing is good I can shoot up to 3500 images on a 4 day safari.

A lot of images end up in the recycle bin but there are some keepers as well ! Here are my Favourite 40 of 2014 in random order with a bit of info on each image, I have enjoyed taking every single photograph and spending every single hour with my guests and helping them take great wildlife images as well.

Often my Favourite images are not necessarily the best images but it may have been a special sighting or we worked really hard to get the image in the bag when the planning and hard work really paid off.

A Rhinos dusk – This image was photographed in Africa, we were watching a small pride of Lions in the fading light when our tracker spotted this lone Black Rhino moving on the ridge above us, I used the longest lens I had, exposed for the sky and fired off a series of images.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 300 F 2.8 lens with 2 x convertor
ISO 1600
1/100 sec
F 5.6
-1.0 EV
Vehicle bracket with a Gimbal head

Wild dog pups – A Image from Kirkmans Kamp in the Sabi Sand game reserve South Africa, a pack of Wild dogs had been denning on Kirkmans and the puppies were starting to venture outside , we were fortunate enough to be at the den during one of these excursions, it was wonderful to see these tiny pups and the future of Wild dogs in South Africa.
Nikon D4
Nikkor 300 F 2.8 with 2 x Convertor
ISO 1600
F 5.6
1/160 sec
-2/3 EV

Letchwe Dusk – This image was photographed at Duba Plains in Botswana late one evening before dark, a herd of Male Letchwe were gathered on a open grassy plain, we stopped a good distance away and we lay down on the ground and photographed the Letchwe from under the vehicle silhouetted against the evening sky.
Nikon D800
Nikkor 300 F2.8 lens with 2 x convertor
ISO 220
1/1250 sec
F 5.6
-1 EV

Deadvlei Dawn - On a Landscape photography trip to Namibia we spent a few days at Sossusvlei,one morning we set off early for Deadvlei, a iconic landscape of Namibia, as the suns rays started creeping over the sand dunes Dead vlei filled with light presenting us with this amazing sight.
Nikon D800
Tokina 16-28 mm F 2.8 lens
ISO 80
1/80 sec
F 13
0 EV
Tripod

Sleeping Beauty - – This image was photographed at Sabi Sabi in South Africa in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve after a rainy day, a Male Leopard had been found sleeping on a Granite outcrop, we went over to have a look, what a magnificent scene greeted us ! the beautiful colours of the evening sky as a backdrop for this magnificent animal, a second vehicle in the sighting provided the light on the Leopard, there is a small window of opportunity when the Background exposure matches the exposure on the subject and we had arrived just in time.
Nikon D4
Nikkor 200-400 F4 lens
ISO 1600
1/400 sec
F 4
0 EV
Monpod with Gimbal head

Bushbuck meal – This Image was photographed at Elephant Plains in the Sabi Sand Game reserve South Africa, we had found a pack of 8 Wild dogs and they set off chasing a bushbuck through a thickly wooded piece of Woodland along a dry riverbed, when we finally caught up with the dogs again they had already caught the Bushbuck and had completely stripped the carcass down to the bone ! One of the dogs picked up the head and ribcage of the Bushbuck and trotted past our vehicle allowing me to take a few snapshots of it before it disappeared into the grass.
Nikon D4
Nikkor 200-400 F4 lens
ISO 1250
F 5
1/200 sec
0 EV

Barbet Reflections – A Pair of Black collared Barbets photographed at Zimanga game reserve close to Pongola in South Africa, Zimanga has some amazing bird hides and one morning while spending time in the hide I captured the image of the Barbets moments after they had landed on the edge of the drinking trough, the reflections of the birds in the water are perfectly clear and the early morning light was amazing !
Nikon D4
Nikkor 300 F 2.8 lens with 2 x convertor
ISO 1000
1/250 sec
F 8
0 EV

Peeping cat - This Image was photographed at Elephant Plains in the Sabi Sand Game reserve South Africa, we were following a young male leopard at night as it carefully walked through the bush, we lost sight of the Leopard and we waited where we thought it may emerge again, when the Leopard did emerge we were perfectly positioned as it popped out from behind a clump of trees, a second vehicle provided the light for us with its spotlight.
Nikon D4
Nikkor 200-400 F4 lens
ISO 2500
F 5
1/100 sec
- 1 2/3 EV

Genet – A Image from Phinda Game reserve in South Africa, while having dinner one evening this Genet came and sat nearby, it had gotten used to people and would catch insects that had been attracted to the lights, I used this opportunity and quickly used my small LED light to illuminate the Genet while lying on the deck to get a low angle, the Genet sat there just long enough to get a few images before it moved off.
Nikon D4
Nikkor 200-400 F 4 lens
ISO 1600
1/100 sec
0 EV

Trotting by ! - On a Landscape photography trip to Namibia we stopped off at the Wild Horses of Aus, there were a lot of horses around the waterhole but I focused on this Stallion that seemed to be displaying its dominance to another stallion close by, I kneeled down to get a lower angle on the horse, the Stallion decided is had won the displaying battle and it was time for a drink so it trotted towards me and when it was a few meters away and I was starting to get a bit nervous the horse turned and trotted by !
Nikon D800
Nikkor 70-200 F 2.8 lens
ISO 125
1/640 sec
F 7.1
0 EV

Comments

By KathyD: Thank you so much for sharing your amazing photographs with the rest of the world. Truly breathtaking!

By Marie Koen: Absolutely spellbinding. Thank you

By GANADEEP: AMAZING SHOTS

By Fiona Duthie: Your photographs are just brilliant - I hope to aspire to your heights in photography.

By Drienie: Andrew, jou foto's is fantasties.

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